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Mets’ Valdespin Is Learning From His Rookie Mistakes

SAN FRANCISCO — Jordany Valdespin strolled into the visitors’ clubhouse at AT&T Park on Thursday morning ready to prove he could learn a lesson.

He changed out of his dress shirt and slipped on the now notorious T-shirt with its shredded sleeves and colorful wordage — “El Hombre” on the back and “NY Loves Valdy,” the middle word denoted with a big red heart, on the front — before going about his pregame routine.

The previous afternoon, Valdespin had worn the shirt in its former state, plain and white, on the team bus from the hotel to the ballpark. The alterations came later, courtesy of some veteran teammates, a creative, and somewhat pointed, way to convey the message that the rookie had broken a dress code requiring shirts with collars.

“When I learn something,” Valdespin said, “I never forget it.”

He has had plenty to learn this year. Valdespin, 24, a native of the Dominican Republic, was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets in 2007 and worked his way through the team’s farm system as a middle infielder.

In this, his rookie season, he has become an unusual wild card, a player equally capable of providing an instant spark or a head-slapping blunder, a player who is an infielder by trade but now an outfielder by necessity, a young man who clearly has talent but whose judgment and maturity may still be a work in progress.

Valdespin got his first major league hit in early May in dramatic fashion, swatting a game-winning, three-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon of the Philadelphia Phillies after entering as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of a tie game. It was not a fluke. In all, he has now clubbed five pinch-hit home runs this season, a franchise record.

He has also compiled a .265 batting average, 7 home runs, and 23 runs batted in, while appearing at second base and shortstop, and in all three outfield positions, On a team that is in desperate need of talent in the outfield, Valdespin could be an intriguing option in 2013. Or he may be someone deemed too undisciplined to be a consistent everyday player.

Dave Hudgens, the Mets’ hitting coach, said that he had been impressed by Valdespin’s bat speed and that he loved how “fearless” the young player was at the plate. But he said Valdespin had many bad habits he needed to shed, particularly his overaggressive approach, which runs counter to Hudgens’s message of patience. Entering Thursday’s game, Valdespin’s on-base percentage was only .289.

“He’s grown up and come through the system that way, a real aggressive hitter,” Hudgens said. “He has to learn to be more disciplined at the plate. It’s something that could take a while.”

Photo

Progressing at the plate and in the field, Jordany Valdespin is hitting .265 with 7 homers and 23 R.B.I. while playing the outfield, second base and shortstop.Credit
Mike Stobe/Getty Images

For instance, Hudgens was not happy with what he saw during a loss last Saturday to the Arizona Diamondbacks, when Valdespin went hitless in three at-bats while seeing a total of four pitches.

“That’s unacceptable if that’s going to happen every night,” Hudgens said. “It can happen sometimes. But if you are only going to see four pitches, you better hit the ball hard three or four times.”

He has also been an adventure in the outfield, although that seems more excusable, considering his lack of experience there. During the second inning of the Mets’ 4-1 loss Tuesday, for example, he misread a ball in center field that helped lead to a two-run inning for the Giants.

“It’s just the best opportunity for me right now, so I have to continue to do my job,” Valdespin said of playing the outfield. “It’s not a problem. I’ll play left, center, right. It’s all the same to me.”

Valdespin said the primary thing he needed work on was his positioning — where to move himself for individual hitters and how to adjust his location as situations changed. “But that’s becoming easier now,” he said.

Manager Terry Collins said he had been happy with Valdespin’s progress, considering the circumstances. He also said he had no concerns about Valdespin from a maturity standpoint and seemed confident that he would learn the rules of the game and the clubhouse — both explicit and unspoken — with the help of his teammates.

Collins said there was some value in rookies being “very, very quiet” in a clubhouse while earning a place in the hierarchy. Valdespin, who can be a noticeable presence in the locker room, was an example of that Thursday — to an extent.

For much of the morning, he sat alone in front of his locker, his face buried in an iPad. A large pair of headphones capped his ears, yet music leaked loudly from them. It took several taps on his shoulder from a pair of reporters for him to be roused from his trance.

After he was, he was able to laugh about Wednesday night’s prank, although when he first realized what had been done to his shirt, he became angry, raising his voice inside a crowded clubhouse.

“I got mad at that moment, but it’s funny now,” Valdespin said. “It’s a process. I need to keep learning.”

The lessons, presumably, will keep coming, on the field and off it.

A version of this article appears in print on August 3, 2012, on page B19 of the New York edition with the headline: Mets’ Valdespin Is Learning From His Rookie Mistakes. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe